Where it all began: timelapsing Dutch clouds.
‘Dutch Clouds’, a timelapse movie of clouds rolling over the flat Dutch landscapes. I started shooting my very first timelapses for this movie. This movie wasn’t yet about creating a story line, in a way it’s collection of clips that I shot throughout the first years of me shooting timelapses, mainly of clouds. To see them move and transform in such speed is mesmerizing to me.
The locations I shot are mostly at and around the area where I used to live, in the middle of the Netherlands. It includes a couple of shots taken at Kinderdijk, the little town famous for their many windmills. Some of the scenes that show hills are taken in the south, the only area of the country that has any.
Music
‘Without a Trace’ by Simon Wilkinson, www.thebluemask.com
Gear
Shot with Nikon D700 & D800, Emotimo TB3 and DP Slider. Edited with Photoshop, Lightroom, LRTimelapse & After Effects.
Read more about the gear I use for these movies at the Gear section!
Subscribe & Download
Watch the Dutch Clouds timelapse at & subscribe to my Youtube channel. Download for personal use? Go to my Vimeo!
Hi, we are Martien Janssen and Jen Yap! I am a Dutch Travel Photographer & Filmmaker, specialising in Landscape, Aerial, Night Sky and Time Lapse Photography. Jen is a doctor from the Philippines who does most writing here. Follow us as we travel create cool photos & videos!
WOW THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL!! I love the clouds so much!! I feel like we often forget to just LOOK UP! My favourite moment was just before 0:30, where the sun is setting over a field of grazing cows. The lighting is perfect, and the animals make it that much better. You’re incredibly talented!
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it, Lauren! Thanks for your comment. True, the beauty is all around us, but we often walk passed it without noticing. Photography and timelapse in particular makes you stand still and observe the beauty.
That is a very cool video! The way the fluffy white clouds move is totally mesmerising. I loved the section where you captured the cows grazing.
Cows are funny, I like how they are so curious, they always come to have a look up close. Glad you liked the video, thanks for the kind comment.
Wow I really love this video. Looks so amazing. I would love to learn how to make these videos 🙂
Good to hear 🙂 It’s not necessarily hard, but man it takes a lot time!
Wow what a cool video! For some reason I would’ve never though to time lapse those scene, but I loved it!
Thanks Sarah. I always loved the country side where I grew up, I just came naturally to timelapse those, in a way, very simple scenes. If we’d have mountains, I’d surely capture them. But our country is so flat!
I love time lapses like these!! They’re so fun
Thanks Leah, you’ll have a blast in the next few months, many more timelapses coming, and they keep getting better 😉
This place is really awesome. The video is so well-done, good work
Thanks a million Daniele 🙂
The Netherlands is beautiful – the time lapse captures the beauty of it perfectly! This is a great way to showcase a place!
Glad you like Yeshi 🙂
Beautiful video. I could keep it watching whole day 🙂
☺️🙏🏼
wow, thats a cool video! I would love to be able to my own!
Dank je wel, as they say in The Netherlands 🙂
Wow this is so beautiful!!! a Different perspective of what I usually see! You’re very talented!
That’s so kind of you, much appreciated 🙂
This is so beautiful, professional, and artistic – I feel like laying on my back on a meadow watching the clouds passing by.
I’m flattered!
Love this video! It’s really calming, I could watch it all day!
Happy to hear you enjoyed it 🙂
Absolutely beautiful! I really have to visit the Netherlands very soon. Look at the landscape and the country side. So serene and idyllic.Makes you forget the angst of the world.
I always found it very calming to look for (and shoot at) these simple quiet spots to shoot my scenes, it does help you forget the misery of life and the world. Glad you like it 🙂
Very nice! You should make open a company.
Thanks, hope that happens one day 🙂
Simply fantastic. This must have taken SO LONG to film and produce! It’s just beautiful and the music is perfect. Super work.
This is so beautiful! Who knew a video of just clouds could be so lovely?
Seeing clouds in fast speed is awesome, right? You just don’t realize the movement of it in real life. Glad you enjoyed it, thanks!
This is epic – great work. What gear do you use to shoot timelapses with? Think you’ve inspired me to try it.
Most shots are done with just my camera on a tripod, the motion is added in my video program. For some I used an Emotimo TB3 and Dynamic Perception Slider, but don’t invest in all that until you know you like it! A cheaper alternative that I use these is the Syrp Genie Mini, which only does left to right, but is cool already.
Any DSLR will do for this work, even many compact cameras are good enough. If the camera doesn’t have an intervalometer built in, you’re likely to use an app or remote. For this movie I used a Nikon D700 and D800 with various lenses. If you’re going to buy something, the Sony RX100 cameras are amazing!
This was awesome to watch. I also love taking time-lapse videos whenever I travel. You really captured the beauty of the clouds and the surroundings in the area. The colors, the movements, and the landscape all played very well together.
Thank you so much!
this is so wonderful and fun. good idea!
Thanks!